BOMA Ottawa (The Building Owners and Managers Association) is the voice of the commercial real estate industry in the National Capital area. Founded in 1971 by Pat Gillin and about 12 other members, our membership has grown to over 450 individuals representing 200 companies. BOMA members include those who own, manage, service or support in excess of 60 million square feet of commercial, office, retail, industrial and institutional property in the region. BOMA Ottawa is one of the National Capital Region's most active and effective business associations.
BOMA Ottawa Vision -- BOMA Ottawa, as the voice of the commercial real estate industry in the National Capital area, is the recognized advocate of building owners and managers in supporting their goals as professional and socially responsible businesses, so as to increase the economic benefit to its' members, their employees and clients, and the broader community.
BOMA Ottawa Mission -- The mission of BOMA Ottawa is to represent the interests of commercial real estate owners and managers, by being the voice of the real estate industry in the National Capital area, through advocacy, promoting the highest industry standards, and educational development, and by fostering business relationships amongst its members and within the community it operates.
The commercial real estate industry is vital as both the physical and economic foundation of Ottawa's economy. As the voice of this industry, BOMA Ottawa is the recognized advocate of building owners and managers in supporting their goals as professional and socially responsible businesses. These goals are achieved through Education, Standards, Networking and Advocacy.
Education
BOMA regularly publishes articles and holds seminars on issues of importance as well as identifying Best Practices created and adopted by the commercial real estate industry through the BOMA educational program. In addition to this, through private sector partnerships, we support and promote alternative courses and programs of interest to the industry in general. BOMA Ottawa is the best source of educational programming for the industry, offering a variety of timely, relevant courses and seminars. We also support the industry's leading professional designations, RPA® and FMA®, offered by BOMI through classes and study groups.
Standards
BOMA Ottawa has been saluting excellence in the office building industry since 1990 through its awarding of the TOBY and Pinnacle Awards. Through these BOMA Awards, recognition is given for excellence in property management, operations, resource conservation, environmental awareness, leasing and building design, customer service and innovation. In our constantly changing industry, the greatest strength of any company is the people it employs. The BOMA Awards recognize teamwork, outstanding service and commitment to clients. BOMA takes great pride in recognizing these teams and individuals who, through their drive and determination, are constantly searching for and achieving excellence. Award winners move on to compete at the National and International Level against their peers at BOMEX in September and at the BOMA International conference in June.
BOMA Ottawa is also the local service provider for the BOMA BEST® Program, the Canadian industry standard for commercial building sustainability certification. BOMA BEST® is the only assessment and certification program of its kind for commercial buildings in Canada. It is a unique, voluntary, national program designed to assess environmental performance and management of existing buildings, and is offered by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada (BOMA Canada) as a service to all commercial building owners and managers across Canada.
Networking
BOMA Ottawa offers members the opportunity at its events to network with outstanding leaders from our industry and related industries as well as government representatives, all of whom have an impact on commercial real estate in Ottawa. BOMA events include a series of Networking Lunches with interesting speakers, BOMA Activity Days for Skiing, Curling and two golf tournaments (Spring and Fall) a Summer BBQ and an Annual Holiday Lunch.
Advocacy
BOMA's many volunteers play an important role in building strong partnerships with local, provincial and federal government members and staff. Committee members identify and act on crucial issues that will impact BOMA members, the commercial real estate industry and the business community at large. We serve as a powerful and influential voice in government affairs on legislative issues impacting the commercial building industry. BOMA monitors and maintains open dialogue with municipal, provincial and federal governments and works to identify, promote and, when necessary, resolve issues affecting BOMA and its members.